Russia vows ‘tough response’ to Ukraine border strikes

Russia has vowed to deliver a ‘tough response’ to Ukraine’s attacks on its border regions, just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed his forces launched a surprise military incursion into ‘the aggressor’s territory’.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia has continued for a sixth day, the largest such attack since the full-scale invasion and unprecedented for its use of Ukrainian military units on Russian soil.

Overnight into Sunday, a Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv killed two people – a man and his four-year-old son. In Russia, Kursk’s regional governor said a Ukrainian missile shot down by Russian air defences fell on a residential building, injuring 13 people.

Putin’s army said Sunday it had halted Ukraine’s advance into its western Kursk region in several places, hitting troops and equipment in areas near the border. 

It also said it had foiled an attempt by Ukraine to break into another border district of the Kursk region, further to the south from where the bulk of the fighting has occurred so far.

Russia’s promise to strike back comes just hours after Zelensky broke the government’s silence on the Ukrainian incursion by indirectly acknowledging ongoing military actions to ‘push the war out into the aggressor’s territory’ in his nightly address on Saturday. 

Thousands of Ukrainian troops are fighting inside Kremlin territory in an incursion into the Kursk region which aims to ‘stretch’ and ‘destabilise’ Russia.

Kyiv launched a surprise border incursion last Tuesday, shocking Russia, which has sent in additional reserves, tanks, drones, artillery and aviation to try to quash the offensive.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Sunday that it would retaliate, with spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pledging: ‘A tough response from the Russian army will not be long in coming.’ 

Putin’s forces have allegedly had continued to use aviation, drones and artillery to try to put down Kyiv’s attack. 

The defence ministry in Moscow said Sunday that its troops had ‘foiled attempts by enemy mobile groups with armoured vehicles to break through deep into Russian territory.’

But in an apparent sign of how far some Ukrainian units have managed to advance, it said it had hit enemy units near the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, which are around 25 km and 30 km from the Russia-Ukraine border.

A senior Ukrainian security official said late Saturday that ‘thousands’ of its troops had been deployed to the region as part of the operation.

‘We are on the offensive. The aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border,’ the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

Russia attacked Ukraine with four ballistic missiles and 57 Shahed drones overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said on Sunday. Air defences shot down 53 drones.

The bodies of a 35-year old man and his son were found under rubble after fragments of missiles fell on a residential area in Kyiv’s suburban Brovary district, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service on Sunday. Another three people in the district were also injured in the attack.

Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration said the it was the second time this month Kyiv was targeted.

Popko said ballistic missiles did not reach the capital but that suburbs took the hit, while drones aiming for the capital were shot down.

Zelensky, citing preliminary information, said that Russia had used a North Korean missile in the strike. Ukraine and the US have previously said that Russia has used North Korean missiles in the war. 

The exact aims of the operation remain unclear and Ukrainian military officials have adopted a policy of secrecy, presumably to ensure its success. 

Military experts have said that it is likely intended to draw Russian reserves away from the intense fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, while a presidential adviser suggested it may strengthen Kyiv’s hand in any future negotiations with Russia.

Zelensky has reiterated calls to Western allies to step up in assistance to Ukraine, and that ‘to really stop Russian terror, we need not only a full-fledged air shield that will protect all our cities and communities, but also strong decisions from partners – decisions that will remove restrictions on our defensive actions.’

Kursk acting governor Aleksei Smirnov said on Sunday that ‘Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group’ entered the Belovsky district the previous day, but that the situation had been ‘stabilised’.

In Russia, the Defense Ministry said 35 drones were shot down overnight over the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Oryol regions.

Ukraine has not commented on the Sunday drone attacks inside Russia. But it comes as Ukraine has increased the pace of similar drone attacks largely targeting military infrastructure and oil depots in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Belarus said it was sending more troops to its border with Ukraine on Saturday, saying Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace as part of Kyiv’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarusian air defence forces destroyed dozens of targets flying from Ukraine over the Mogilev region, which borders Russia, on Friday evening.

‘The Ukrainian armed forces violated all rules of conduct and violated the airspace of the Republic of Belarus. In the eastern direction, very close to us in the Kostyukovichi district,’ Lukashenko said at a meeting in Minsk on Saturday.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Belarus regards the violation of its airspace as a provocation and is ‘ready for retaliatory action.’

Zelensky, acknowledging the unprecedented border raid for the first time after days of silence, on Saturday thanked the soldiers involved and said: ‘Ukraine is proving that it can really bring justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor.’

But Moscow has promised its army will deliver a ‘tough response’ to the Ukrainian attacks on its border regions after a missile strike on the city of Kursk allegedly injured 15.

Putin‘s forces overnight launched a drone and missile barrage on Kyiv, killing a four-year-old boy and his father.

Russia’s army appeared to acknowledge Sunday that Ukrainian units had driven deep into the country, saying it had hit troops and equipment around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.

The Russian army earlier said Ukraine had deployed around 1,000 soldiers in the incursion which began Tuesday, appearing to catch the Kremlin off guard, as Ukrainian forces penetrated Russian defensive lines.

Asked whether 1,000 Ukrainian troops were taking part in the assault, the official said: ‘It is a lot more… thousands’.

After days of official silence from the Ukrainian authorities, Zelensky acknowledged the operation for the first time in his nightly address on Saturday, saying that Kyiv was ‘pushing the war into the aggressor’s territory‘.

He also thanked ‘every unit of our Defense Forces that is making this possible’.

‘I would like to commend all our warriors for this week – the combat brigades, which are highly effective, in defending our country and destroying the occupier,’ Zelensky said in his address. ‘We leave no part of the front unattended.’

He added: ‘I would also like to thank our partners – everyone who made this week successful in implementing sanctions against Russia and those associated with it. 

‘This needs to be felt every week – that sanctions are indeed working, and anyone who tries to circumvent them faces a response from the world. We are preparing new measures to further limit the Russian state.’

The Ukrainian President said he was ‘grateful for the new defence packages for Ukraine’ and said Ukraine was also ‘eagerly awaiting decisions on long-range capabilities from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France – strong decisions that will bring us closer to a just peace’.

Ukraine’s surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region has entered its sixth day. The border raid is unprecedented for its use of Ukrainian military units on Russian soil.

The exact aims of the operation remain unclear and Ukrainian military officials have adopted a policy of secrecy, presumably to ensure its success. 

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday that 35 drones were shot down overnight over the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Oryol regions.

Thirteen people were injured when a Ukrainian missile shot down by Russian air defences fell on a residential building in Kursk overnight into Sunday, acting regional Governor Alexei Smirnov said on Telegram.

Ukraine has not commented on the attack inside Russia, but has increased the pace of attacks targeting Russian territory in recent weeks.

Also overnight into Sunday, a Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv killed two people including a 4-year-old boy.

The bodies of a 35-year old man and his son were found under rubble after fragments of missiles fell on a residential area in Kyiv’s suburban Brovary district, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service on Sunday. Another three people in the district were also injured in the attack.

Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration said the it was the second time this month Kyiv was targeted.

Popko said ballistic missiles did not reach the capital but that suburbs took the hit, while drones aiming for the capital were shot down.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and has waged an unrelenting offensive, occupying swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and subjecting Ukrainian cities to daily missile and drone attacks.

After re-capturing large areas in 2022, Ukrainian forces have largely been on the backfoot and are increasingly struggling with manpower and arms supplies.

But Ukrainian units stormed across the border Tuesday in what so far has been the largest and most successful such offensive by Kyiv in the conflict.

Its troops have advanced several kilometres forcing Russia’s army to rush in reserves and extra equipment – though neither side has given precise details on the forces committed.

Russia has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from the area and Ukraine has also evacuated thousands of people from the Sumy region across the border.

Ukraine has claimed it has taken control of a Russian town that is home to a prominent gas pipeline. 

Ukrainian soldiers claiming to be from the 61st Brigade were filmed standing outside a local Gazprom facility in the town of Sudzha which is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Ukraine border.

The soldiers can be heard saying: ‘Everything is calm in the town. All the buildings are safe, strategic object of Gazprom in Sudzha is under the control of the 99th Mechanized Battalion.’ 

It could not be immediately ascertained as to the authenticity of the video, with a press officer for the brigade saying they were unable to provide a comment.

Elsewhere, shelling continued through the night in the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region following Ukraine’s surprise incursion against Putin‘s forces. 

Buildings in Russia appeared to have been set alight by Ukrainian shelling with video footage showing huge flames engulfing what is thought to be a block of flats. 

Belgorod has come under frequent shelling and drone attacks from Ukraine in the course of the war. 

It is next to the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged a major cross-border attack this week, which has seen more than 76,000 people from the surrounding border areas, Russian media reported today.

‘More than 76,000 people have been temporarily relocated to safe places,’ the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing a local official at a press briefing.

Kyiv’s intentions – and the scale of the battles going on – were unclear but the incursion may be an attempt to draw Russian manpower away from the main battlegrounds of eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been notching victories.

There is also speculation that Ukraine could be attempting to occupy a swathe of Russian territory to give it a stronger hand in any peace talks.

Either way, the bold offensive is one of the most dramatic developments in the two-and-a-half year war, just as it seemed Russia was gaining the upper hand.

Ukrainian regular forces burst over the border north-east of Sumy five days ago in a surprise offensive and advanced about 13 miles, capturing towns and villages.

They destroyed a Russian convoy 25 miles from the border, inflicting dozens of casualties.

General Sir Richard Shirreff told Radio 4’s Today programme it was a ‘brilliant military operation’. Kyiv had demonstrated ‘seriously sophisticated planning’ and ‘made monkeys out of President Putin’ and his supporters.

Previous cross-border raids have been undertaken by Russian volunteers supporting Ukraine and have normally only lasted hours. But yesterday Russia’s army confirmed it was still fighting the Ukrainian incursion.

Andrei Gurulyov, a member of parliament for Putin’s ruling party, said: ‘The enemy has been halted so far but that does not mean that it is all quiet. There is serious fighting going on there.’

Russia’s nuclear agency also warned yesterday that the Ukrainian attack posed a ‘direct threat’ to Kursk nuclear power station.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said reinforcements being sent to the region included multiple rocket launchers, towed artillery guns, tanks and heavy tracked vehicles.

There has been little reliable information on the risky Ukrainian operation and its strategic aims are unclear. Ukrainian officials have refused to comment on the incursion, taking place about 320 miles south-west of Moscow.

But Mathieu Boulegue, a defence analyst at Chatham House think- tank in London, said the Ukrainians appear to have a clear goal, even if they’re not revealing it. 

‘Such a co-ordinated ground force movement responds to a clear military objective’, he said.

‘Also, the raid has spooked the Russian public and delivered a slap in the face to President Putin, offering Ukraine a great PR coup.’ He added the attack ‘is a massive symbol, a massive display of force (showing) the war is not frozen’.

In neighbouring Belarus, where Russian troops are deployed but which has not sent its own army into Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko said its air defences shot down unspecified objects launched from Ukraine.

‘I do not understand why Ukraine needs this. We need to figure it out. We made it clear to them that any provocations will not go unanswered,’ Mr Lukashenko said.

A Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a shopping mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, on Friday, killing 14 people and wounding 44.

‘This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians’, said Donetsk leader Vadym Filashkin.

Ukrainian special forces killed 30 Russian soldiers on Friday in a raid on Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit in the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Dnipro river.

Putin has called the incursion a ‘large-scale provocation’ and Russia’s top general has vowed to crush it. But Moscow has not yet presented detailed information on the extent of the advance.

Moscow said Friday it had struck Ukrainian positions on the western edge of Sudzha, a town around five miles from the border that appeared to be the focus of Kyiv’s offensive.

Several Russian media shared a video purporting to show Sudzha residents appealing to President Vladimir Putin for help, warning that many were unable to evacuate.

‘In a few hours our town was turned into ruins … Our relatives are left behind, we can’t call them, there is no communication. Please help us get our land back,’ one resident said in the video.

In neighboring Belarus, where Russian troops are deployed but which hasn’t sent its own army into Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko said Saturday that its air defenses shot down unspecified objects launched from Ukraine that were flying over Belarusian territory.

‘I do not understand why Ukraine needs this. We need to figure it out. As I said before, we made it clear to them that any provocations will not go unanswered,’ Lukashenko said, according to state news agency Belta.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that reinforcements are now being sent to Kursk to counter Ukraine’s raid, with Russia deploying multiple rocket launchers, towed artillery guns, tanks transported on trailers and heavy tracked vehicles.

There has been little reliable information on the daring operation, and its strategic aims are unclear. Ukrainian officials have refused to comment on the incursion, which is taking place about 320 miles southwest of Moscow.

Asked about Ukraine’s incursion, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday the United States was ‘in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts,’ but that he wouldn’t comment until ‘those conversations are complete.’ 

Ukraine’s backers have not been dissuaded by the apparent offensive, as the US on Friday announced a further $125mn in new military aid for Kyiv.

The aid package underscores ‘our unwavering commitment to (Ukraine) as they continue to battle back against Russian aggression,’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the aid would be drawn from American stockpiles and ‘includes air defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, multi-mission radars, and anti-tank weapons.’

The equipment ‘will help Ukraine protect its troops, its people and its cities from Russian attacks and reinforce its capabilities across the front lines,’ he said in a statement.

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $55billion in weapons, ammunition and other security aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Combatants from Ukraine have made several brief incursions into Russia since the beginning of the conflict, including with units of Russians fighting in support of Kyiv – the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.

Russia has pushed back against the attacks and has sometimes needed to deploy artillery and aviation.

Ukraine’s main military effort is focused on fighting back Russian forces who control nearly a fifth of its territory after almost two-and-a-half years of war and have made a series of gradual gains in the past six months.

Ukrainian strikes inside Russia’s own territory have mostly involved shelling of border regions and drone attacks on targets such as oil refineries and fuel depots.

Responsibility for previous incursions, into Russia’s Belgorod and Bryansk regions, have been claimed by two murky groups: the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion.